WAGES AND COACHMEN. 361 



longer on the Chester mail ; and Jack Peer's father has 

 just retired from the box of the York ' Express,' after a 

 service of thirty-seven years on the same coach, though 

 under different names. She was once called the 

 ' Nelson,' and before that the ' Paul Jones.' 



I do not think a coachman ought to drive more than 

 seventy miles a day ; and if this is done at two starts, it 

 is in his favour. The attrition, or wearing of the human 

 frame, under daily excitement, must tend to produce pre- 

 mature old age, and consequently shorten life ; and this 

 excitement must be considerable when a man drives a 

 fast coach eighty or a hundred miles a day without a 

 stop — particularly if his coach is strongly opposed. 



The expenses of coachmen on the road are heavy, and 

 should be taken into consideration by passengers. They 

 have their horse-keepers to tip every week, or they will 

 not do their best for them ; and the wear and tear of 

 their clothes is a heavy tax on their pockets. They have, 

 I fear, sometimes to complain of the illiberality of 

 passengers ; but, as far as my observation has led me, they 

 are satisfied with one shilling under, and two shillings for 

 anything above thirty miles ; and indeed they are well 

 entitled to that sum — more especially when we recollect 

 that they are subject to empty coaches. No great diffe- 

 rence is now made in respectable coaches between the 

 fees of in and outside passengers, as it so often happens 

 that the latter are the better able to pay. I could name 

 a man — an old friend of mine — who never gave a coach- 

 man or guard less than a pound at a time ; but of course 

 he is an enthusiast in our line, and can afford it well. 



